page_title: Hu Die
section_title: Marriage
hierarchical_section_title: Hu Die / Marriage
caption_attribution_description: English: Wedding photo of Hu Die (Butterfly Wu) and Pan Yousheng
context_page_description: Hu Die, also known by her English name Butterfly Wu, was one of the most popular Chinese actresses during the 1920s and 1930s. She starred in The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple, which started a craze for martial arts films, Sing-Song Girl Red Peony, China's first sound film, and what is considered her best film, Twin Sisters. She was voted China's first "Movie Queen" in 1933, and won the Best Actress Award at the 1960 Asian Film Festival for her performance in Rear Door.
context_section_description: In 1931, a cousin introduced Hu Die to Pan Yousheng (潘有声), a young employee of a Shanghai trading firm. Hu Die was careful about her personal life and their relationship progressed slowly until autumn 1935, when they announced their impending marriage. Their wedding was the most important social event in Shanghai of that year. Famous film stars served as bridesmaids and groomsmen, and child stars were their flower girls and page boys. Hu Die was ready to retire from the film industry, as was customary at the time after an actress' marriage, but with her husband's support, she signed a contract with Mingxing to make one film per year. She only made one more film under the new contract, before the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, and the hard-fought Battle of Shanghai completely destroyed Mingxing and other Shanghai studios in 1937.
caption: Wedding photo of Hu Die and Pan Yousheng
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